Five things to watch this weekend

Love & Death — Showmax

Veteran TV creator and multi-Emmy winner David E Kelley turns his attention to the true crime story of Betty Gore, who was murdered with an axe by her seemingly ordinary, churchgoer neighbour Candy Montgomery in the small town of Wyley, Texas in 1980. Already the subject of efforts in various media, Kelley’s version stars Elizabeth Olsen as Montgomery and Jesse Plemons as Betty’s husband (and Candy’s lover) Alan. It quietly builds up towards the kind of twisty courtroom drama that its creator has made a lynchpin of his long career and along the way it manages to remind us why this particular story has captivated the popular imagination for so long. The first episode is available on Tuesday May 2, with new episodes weekly thereafter.

Dead Ringers — Prime Video

David Cronenberg’s unsettling 1988 body horror, starring Jeremy Irons as a creepy set of identical twin, misogynist gynaecologists, gets a wicked feminist reboot in this series adaptation. Rachel Weisz has plenty of black-humour fun playing twins Beverly and Elliot Mantle who are top gynaecologists at a hospital, looking to open their own clinic and revolutionise the way women give birth. This time it is the dedication to make women’s lives better that drives the twins to achieve their goal by whatever ethically dubious means necessary, rather than the cold distaste for women that drove the original material. The shift in focus makes for a more complicated but equally disturbing tale carried by Weisz’s excellent performance.

Sam – A Saxon — Disney+

A dramatic adaptation of the mad but true life of German Samuel Meffire, who went from being the first black policeman in the old East Germany to a poster boy for multiculturalism in reunified Germany before ending up in the 1990s as an internationally wanted criminal who was sentenced to nine years in jail for robbery. Created by Jörg Winger, who together with his wife Anna brought the hugely successful Cold War era spy thriller series Deutschland 83 to streaming platforms in 2015, it’s a dark and morally complicated story about a man with a deep inner rage that would take him most of his life to overcome.

Citadel — Prime Video

Directed by Avengers helmers the Russo brothers, featuring an all-star cast that includes Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Richard Madden and Stanley Tucci, Amazon’s new megabudget series provides the kind of globe-trotting, action-packed spy thrills that James Bond fans love and that will no doubt prove popular with many viewers. However, whether there’s much here beyond expensive surface glitz, familiar spy-adventure tropes and hammy international conspiracy plotting remains to be seen. The first two episodes are now available with new episodes added weekly.

Barry Season 4 — Showmax

Bill Hader’s dark comedy about a depressed hitman reaches its conclusion in this fourth and final season. With excellent performances, a wildly innovative comic style that manages to be both bitingly funny and touching, the show has proved itself one of recent television’s most memorably unique comedies. The first episode of the final season streams on Monday May 1, with new episodes added weekly.